BEN BRADSHAW MP was the guest at the latest Automotive and Engineering Employer Consultative Group event held at Exeter College.

Organised by Exeter College Business Solutions, it gave those working in the automotive and engineering industry locally the chance to put questions to Mr Bradshaw and to discuss how best to take the sector forward in the South West.

The group’s regular members are directors and senior managers from a broad range of companies, ranging from multinationals to small and medium-sized specialist enterprises (SMEs) from across Devon.

Employer Consultative Groups have also been established, or are in the process of being established, for other areas of industry, including Construction, Health and Social Care, and Retail and Commercial Enterprises, and the College expects to roll out this practice to further sectors in future.

Speaking afterwards, Richard Layburn of Business Solutions said: “The Employer Consultative Groups give employers a good strong voice in terms of how they can help determine how policy is set in their area. It is their chance to speak specifically for their sectors rather than for commerce in general.

“Collectively, their views carry far greater weight than if they were to put them forward individually, and the groups themselves can act as a very effective conduit to the decision makers, both locally and nationally.”

Among the panel members was Sean Limbrick, Chief Engineer at Dunkeswell-based Supacat Ltd, one of the UK’s leading independent developers of high-mobility vehicles. Established in 1981, the company has designed a range of specialist vehicles used by defence customers worldwide. In recent years, it has expanded its innovation ethos into marine renewables and the oil and gas sector.

Sean added: “I have embraced the Employer Consultative Group because Supacat and other local engineering SMEs are reliant on the supply of motivated and educated engineers. I believe this requires both the right nurture and the right environment to retain and attract talented people to the area and this is one way to influence this.

“The group represents a diverse range of organisations and has illustrated to me both the complexities and the common threads in the challenge to improve our local engineering landscape.”

Ben Bradshaw MP continued: “From my perspective, the day provided a useful insight into the issues, values and priorities of those currently employed in this particular sector of industry. From the employers’ point of view, it was also an opportunity to establish common aims and to discuss how best these could be approached collectively for the benefit of themselves and others in their sector in the South West.

“I believe such groups are likely to prove extremely valuable to employers in future, not only within the Automotive and Engineering industry but across a number of other sectors too, as a way of working together towards further growing the region’s economy in future.”